Charlie Benton

Feature Editor

The Southern Regional Chapter of the College Music Society held its annual conference in Poindexter Hall on the W campus from Feb. 19 -21.

“[The College Music Society] is an umbrella society founded around 1960. It’s a society for all people involved in music, especially in academia,” said Ann Silverberg, past president of the chapter, and a professor at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.

About 85 members attended, mostly coming from Southern states such as Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Florida. The conference, held annually at different universities throughout the South, returned to the W for the first time since 1996.

Conference participants attended several sessions and workshops dealing with various facets of music and the current industry. Also, the new chapter president took office.

“It's been very successful because of the efforts of the MUW Music Department,” said Silverberg, emphasizing the importance of the host university's role.

Three concerts of contemporary music were also presented as part of the conference. Works for several instrumentation, ranging from solo viola to brass quintet were performed. Much of the music was written and performed by members of the chapter.

“It's [composition of new works] one of our chapter's strengths,” said Silverberg.

One of the works performed on Saturday was a duet for marimba and clarinet.

“'Raven' is a three-movement work for clarinet and marimba,” said Jamie Wind Whitmarsh, a percussionist and half of the Tallahassee, Fla., based ensemble, Duo Rodinia. “It was written in 2004 by Edward Knight.”

The performances were held in the Connie Sills Kossen Auditorium in Poindexter Hall.

Overall, both the conference and the concerts were a resounding success.

“It's been great having all these wonderful musicians from all over the country,” said Julia Mortyakova, chair of the MUW music department.